Homegrown: Long-Lewis Hardware celebrates 125 years

The Homegrown profile spotlights businesses that have been in existence for many years and examines how they have survived for so long.

Birmingham-based Long-Lewis Hardware isn't as well known as its sister company, Long-Lewis Ford, a nearly century-old automobile dealership in Hoover.

But the company's beginnings trace back to 1887, the same year its former hometown city, Bessemer, was founded by a group of former Civil War soldiers who came to the area to form Debardelaben Coal, Iron and Land Co.

Birmingham News/Michelle CampbellDoug Stanford, vice president and general manager of Long-Lewis Hardware, said the company has survived 125 years by adjusting its inventory to keep up with customer demands.

A wholesale supplier of hardware products and supplies for retailers across the Southeast, Long-Lewis Hardware has been at 430 Ninth St. North in downtown Birmingham since 1929.

The company name comes from founder William J. Long, who started Bessemer Cornice Works in downtown Bessemer in 1887, then bought out his competitor, Lewis Hardware, and renamed the retail store as Long-Lewis Hardware.

In 1986, current owner Vaughn Burrell, a vice president and general manager who had spent more than two decades working for the company, bought the company from the Long family.

It is truly a family business, with Burrell's son and two sons-in-law all joining him in key top leadership roles at the company.

LONG-LEWIS HARDWARE

Founder: William J. Long

Date: Started in 1887 as Bessemer Cornice Works before founder changed name to Long-Lewis Hardware. Company is a wholesale supplier of hardware products and supplies for retailers across the Southeast. Has two separate subsidiaries. Long-Lewis Ford, founded in 1915 as one of the nation's first Ford dealerships, is on Alabama 150 in Hoover. Long-Lewis Western Star sells commercial trucks and is on Bessemer Super Highway in Bessemer.

Founder Long was the ultimate entrepreneur who seized opportunities to expand his business, according to the company's website. It began when he bought out his competitor and started Long-Lewis Hardware in 1887.

In 1911, the winner of a promotion that Long and other Bessemer merchants sponsored refused the grand prize of a Model-T Ford.

"The winner lived down below McAdory and when we drove the car into his yard, he ordered us off the property," Mr. Long recalled in a story posed on the company's website. "Said all that popping backfiring from the car would scare his chickens so bad they'd never lay eggs again!"

Long bought the new car from the winner, took it back to the wagon and buggy department of his hardware store and sold it for a profit. He then used the money to order more Model-Ts.

"Mr. Long was not afraid to take a chance," General Manager Doug Stanford said in an interview. "One day he called Henry Ford in Detroit and asked if he could open a Ford franchise. Mr. Ford said he wasn't selling franchises. A few years later Mr. Ford remembered his call and Mr. Long was one of the first dealers awarded Ford franchises in the country."

LONGEVITY SECRETS

Treating employees like family is an enduring quality at the company. Owner Burrell has a son and two sons-in-laws working for him, but makes sure that each of his managers treat employees with respect, Stanford said.

A key to Long-Lewis Inc.'s growth is that the company has followed a model of hiring good people, and empowering them to make decisions, Stanford said. "Our people make the difference," he said.

Finally, successful businesses must put the customer first in all they do, Stanford said.

"Our customers are the reason we're still in business today," he said.

TODAY'S CHALLENGES

Adjusting to technology is a major challenge. "About the time we are able to leverage technology, something else comes out," Stanford said.

ADVICE

Adapt to the times and follow growth markets. It's a lesson Long used when he seized a chance to boost his hardware business by relocating Long-Lewis' hardware division from Bessemer to Birmingham's then-thriving business sector by constructing a new building from the ground up at 430 9th St. North in 1929, Stanford said.

In 1999, Burrell followed the over-the-mountain growth by relocating Long-Lewis Ford from Bessemer to 2551 Alabama 150 in Hoover.

Good entrepreneurs also keep on top of customer needs, Stanford said.

"We constantly have to stay on top of things," he said. "Our customers' needs change from time to time, and we need to be aware of that. The economy dictates whether we need to focus on home improvements or new construction inventory, and we must tailor our inventory to keep up with customer demands."